Try these super salads for family dinners

WHEN Lisa Simpson, television's most politically correct eight-year-old, declares she is to become a vegetarian, Bart leads Homer in a conga line chanting: "You don't win friends with salad, you don't win friends with salad".

It's a classic and oft-quoted episode, but one that's all too real, but still very funny - for mums and dads trying to up their kids' veg intake, and home cooks wanting to graduate from the predictable trio of tomato-cucumber-iceberg to something more.

"We need to broaden our idea of what we think a salad is," says Stephanie Alexander, the founder of the primary school food education initiative, the Kitchen Garden Foundation and author of The Cook's Companion culinary bible. "It isn't just a bowl of dark green leaves."

"I'm a firm believer that a salad is a meal too. It's not just about lettuce," declares the author of the witty and instructive cookbook Mr Wilkinson's Vegetables. "A real salad should have complexity of texture and flavour and different leaves, vegetables, meats and fishes, even fruit, with different types of dressings to accompany it."

So, if your New Year's resolution is to become a better cook and feed your family terrific-tasting, good-for-you fare, then here's a list of ideas to help you turn over a new leaf or radish or capsicum ...

MAKE IT A MEAL

The best way to get the kids to eat salad is to start a vegie patch in the back garden, but the next best way is to get them into the kitchen.

"It's important they're just not helping, but having fun at the same time," says Stephanie. "Kids absolutely love using a salad spinner, but they need to be advised that it doesn't need huge energy and they're not improving the salad by belting it at high speed."

A standard box grater is another of Stephanie's favourites as is an Asian grater, available in Asian supermarkets. "You put a carrot or daikon in it and it comes out in endless strings. Kids absolutely love it."

"A salad should be texturally diverse," says Matt. "Maybe some nuts, seeds or croutons and two or more of the five tastes from our little complex tongue."

Stephanie adds that it is texture as much as flavour that will tempt the kids.

MIX IT UP

FOR a striking-looking salad, experiment with different sizes of tomatoes. Mix the small, intensely fruity grape or sweet solanato tomatoes with yellow cherry tomatoes, and kumatoes and romas, both big and small.

LUSCIOUS FRUIT

"IN the summer all those wonderful stone fruits peaches, apricots, plums should be used as often as possible," Stephanie advises, suggesting that while fresh is lovely, a light grilling will soften the fruit and give it a sweet, caramelised flavour.

"And another salad I love, and most children love, is watermelon with feta."

Matt Wilkinson agrees. "Mango, cherries, apples, pears, but especially peaches should be in your salad repertoire," he says. "Try chunks of peaches with couscous, toasted almonds, coriander, finely diced red onion and some yoghurt on top, dress it with a little pomegranate molasses and oil."

Matt likes to add prawns. "Grill them on the barbecue, add corn kernels, grilled long green capsicums, some chopped parsley and a dressing made from sour cream, white vinegar and grain mustard," he says.

ALL ABOUT HERBS

MANY recipes call for a mere sprinkling of finely chopped dill or roughly torn basil, but there are many wonderful salads in which herbs are the star, and picked parsley, mint and coriander leaves can be used in quantities in place of lettuce. normally would.

NOT TOO OILY

AUSTRALIAN olive oil with the emphasis on the Australian, is the foundation of both Matt and Stephanie's favoured base for a salad dressing. Plus, Matt says, "you should always have a little bottle of hazelnut or walnut oil. A few splashes is enough with some balsamic on a rocket, pear and parmesan salad".

"My personal fav is tarragon vinegar, but a little strawberry vinegar or fig vincotto is great."

Stephanie prefers the classic dressing of oil, a little lemon or vinegar, salt and pepper, but suggests a little bit of honey sweetness is a way to tempt children into the joys of salad.

Whatever you choose, heed Matt's words: A dressing should coat the leaves like a well-oiled bicycle chain, not be dripping in it and leaving salad all soggy.

TOUCH OF GREEN

ZUCCHINI is at its seasonal best now and is great whether grilled, steamed or raw, says Matt. Try cutting it into strips, salting it, then folding through feta, toasted pine nuts, parsley and basil, drizzled with some olive oil and lemon juice. "It's awesome," he says.

FABULOUS FRENCH

A SIMPLE grated carrot salad is another of Stephanie's favourites. "It's a classic French first course," she says.

"(The French) grate it quite coarsely and then put a little bit of olive oil and lemon, sometimes a touch of cream, a teaspoonful for a carrot, not much at all and pile it into a bowl with hard-boiled eggs and black olives." kids love olives, some kids hate them. and it's always good for them to be presented with a dish like that.

"I'd just cheerily say, 'That's ok, if you don't want to eat the olives don't eat them.' But don't indulge that 'yuk, poo' nonsense from them." And don't forget to season salad with sea salt. Ever.